Authors notes: I know this release is alot sooner then some of you may have anticipated due to my tardiness, but I know now in A state of Nirvana. I am at peace with the triumverate, and my Jimmys remain unrustled. You may thank one of my most loyal fans, Traintrax for this. After observing at Octavia's beautiful plot in his comment to me, I had a shocking revelation. One of extreme... meaning. God Bless you Jesus, or as you may prefer to be called, Traintrax.
~Spiffy Mcsquee
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-Griggs-
In disbelief, I looked at one of my friends before the attack. The man was in an M1A1 with the captain when the fighting erupted, and here he was, alone. It seemed we were all alone here, in this bitter, lonely wasteland. As he pulled me back to the cave, mumbling some inaudible words, I was thankful for my lack of pain. Not because I was some sort of grade A badass. The cold finally had a purpose. Numbing my limbs had finally done something other than destroy and trace of coordination.
What he said was probally the dumbest thing somebody could say when A man had A twenty food drop onto hard ice. Actually, the dumbest thing anyone could say after something painful happened to the person you asking.
"Are you alright?"
Still catching onto my world famous jackass sarcastic attitude, I proudly said, "Oh yeah, disregard my wounded legs, and yeah i'm just fucking dandy! Now please get me off of this ice?"
In retrospect, insulting your rescuer isn't a good idea, so I would advise against it. But, with A fitting 'sigh' he brought me into the shelter. My mind was still clear, besides the gaping headache, so, naturally, I grew curious as to what Thomas' story was. Before I could ask my question, He decided to ask me some questions of his own.
"So, you have any ideas what's going on?" Said Thomas
"Nope. One second, i'm dying, the next, i'm in a forest, freezing my ass off with a pounding headache."
"You too?"
Honestly, that hit me like a shitload of bricks, and I had no idea why. Maybe it's because It couldn't have been a coincidence that both of us survive a nuclear explosion and wake up feeling the same way in the same general vicinity of each other. Maybe this was a side effect? Maybe both of us survived and were in the hospital and wacky drugs were doing this? No... There would be more people here... I think.
Wait. He was cold, but he did not have his tanker vest and jacket on. His clothes save for his pants and A standard military tank top, very fitting might I add, seeing how he was in A tank. Oh where was I, oh yes. His clothes minus his pants and military tank top were folded in a pile. It looked like he must have worn alot of clothes in his tank for such a huge pile. Of course my oh-so curious being got the better of me very quickly and I asked him, "Why did you take off your clothes if your freezing?"
He sighed and said, "Here. Take A look at this." As he uncovered what was under the (formerly believed) waste of equipment, I opened my eyes in shock, and thanked God I was still wearing my gas mask to hide my flabbergasted expression. There was a horse. Not an ordinary horse. A baby horse with an orange coat and purple hair. With wings. Yeah, I was freaking out in my mind.
Seemingly telepathically reading my mind, he sat down and said, "Lemme tell you what happened."
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*Thirty minutes earlier.*
- Thomas-
"Damn it's cold." I thought to myself. I had went from being in a tank, knowing I was about to perish, to waking up in the middle of scenic nowhere. I was dazed, confused, and worst of all, heartbroken. I had A raging mental war in my head over my current status, alive or dead. Honestly, I would be happier with some closure. If only some magical voice from up above just randomly shouted out "You dead!" I would at least know a little more about what the hell was going on.
As I had examined my surroundings, I appeared to be in A cave of sorts. It wasn't big. The interior was about as large as A normal classroom, despite the different shape. There was, for a lack of a better word, a roof. Pretty much just A thing to keep snow out. The cold rocks on the inside weren't providing much warmth, but He could have woken up in much worse places. One of which being the very place he died in. Nuclear radiation wasn't a preferable means of death. Dark optimism. Only way I could keep a somewhat positive attitude. Positive as in not rolling up in a ball and crying, whilst sucking my thumb. Not a good thing.
Still, I couldn't help shed a tear for the ones back home who thought I was dead. I was hoping on getting back to them. As I sat criss-cross in the cave, I thought of the things I could look forward to. I would come home from my deployment, rightfully awarded A Medal of Honor from my posthumous actions at Cascade Falls, (4 T80's, 6 IFV's, just saying high command) and I would surprise my wife back in Illinois, buy a farm with the money the government gives me, and live happily ever after. I smiled and shed a tear, very hopeful to go home.
I was finally cheering up, my mind apparently trying to do so. Maybe it knew I would most likely lose it If i knew the truth? This was not something I pondered at the time. My train of though was broken by a loud and clearly audible 'thud' against the ice I somehow failed to notice. There lied the end of my cheerful optimism. The end of all hope of ever seeing my wife again. It was in a different form then I expected. Not a bullet, not an invisible trail of Gas, nor fire. It was in the form of an orange pegasus.
In immediate shock I raced forward onto the ice, which, for my luck, was not thin. I picked up the strange creature and dashed back to the cave. I laid it down and quickly examined it. It seemed to be unconscious. I looked for A place to check its pulse, praying to God it wasn't dead, for reasons unbeknownst to me even to this day. As I finally found it, at the very bottom of the neck, I, too my relief, found it wasn't dead. But it was very, very cold. But so was I. As I made my decision, I only thought one thing to myself. "Fuck."
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*Present time*
-Rainbow Dash-
Sweet Celestia! How long do these tracks go on? I thought to myself. I had been following this trail for fifteen minutes and still did not find an end to them. As my mind calmed itself down just enough for me to rationally think, I had wondered why the animal's tracks were right next to Scootaloo's. Maybe they found each other? Or maybe Scootaloo followed them. What if the animal wanted to eat her...
My eyes opened up in A mix of shock and anger, and my slightly more fatigued flight pattern slowly dissolved as I flew again with bitter determination to buck the flank of whoever took Scootaloo. My patience was finally rewarded as the tracks
stopped. As I stopped and surveyed the area below, I saw small cracks in the ice. They must have both fallen. I convinced myself. As I looked to the snow to see if the tracks went on, they didn't. I knew this was where I would find Scootaloo's kidnapper. Never liking the Tactical and stealthy approach, I let out A feisty "RAAAAHH!" and swooped down to meet Scootaloo's captor.
Many ponies say when you have an adrenaline rush you cannot think clearly. Oh how wrong they are. On my diving flight down I had noticed every detail of the agressor's bodily details, and to my disadvantage their was a similar creature next to him, both staring at me. I had seen that they had slight differences in their apparel. One was wearing a backpack of sorts, and was also wearing a weird mask, while the other had nothing covering it's face. My main advantage was the fact that they were sitting. I believed I could make it an easy 1-2 punch, and knock them both out. I had no more time to analyze them, for I had just raised my hoof to strike.
The creatures had just realized/were confirmed of my true intentions, and the one I was aiming at the thing I was aiming at raised his fist hoping to deliver A blow of his own. I wasn't focusing on the other though, for he was too far to effect the outcome of my strike. I was merely A yard away from delivering my punch until I heard one final noise.
*BANG*